Method and System for Timely Delivery of Multimedia Content Via a Femtocell

ABSTRACT

Aspects of a method and system for timely delivery of multimedia content via a femtocell are provided. In this regard, a femtocell may receive data via an upstream path and transmit data via a downstream path. One of the upstream path and downstream path may comprise a cellular path and the other may comprise a non-cellular path. One or both of the upstream path and the downstream path may be audio video bridging (AVB) paths. Data may be stored in the femtocell based on timing characteristics of one or both of the upstream path and the downstream path. Data may be delivered to the femtocell utilizing best effort delivery and the data may be forwarded by the femtocell with guaranteed quality of service. Resources in the femtocell may be reserved and/or synchronized, utilizing AVB protocols, for communication of one or more data streams.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/406,835, filed Mar. 18, 2009, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communications. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a methodand system for timely delivery of multimedia content via a femtocell.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A femtocell may be placed in a customer's residence or in a smallbusiness environment, for example. Femtocells may be utilized foroff-loading macro radio network facilities, improving coverage locallyin a cost-effective manner, and/or implementing home-zone services toincrease revenue. Femtocells, like macro base stations, may be enabledto connect “standard” phones to a cellular provider's network by aphysical broadband connection which may be a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection and/or a cable connection, for example. Since thetraffic between a customer's premises femtocell equipment and theoperator's network may be traversing a public network, the traffic maybe prone to various risks.

Communication between femtocells and one or more cellular provider'snetworks enables operation in private and public areas. The capacity ofa femtocell may be adequate to address a typical family use modelsupporting two to four simultaneous voice calls and/or data, forexample.

An important characteristic of femtocells is their ability to controlaccess. In an open access scenario, any terminal and/or subscriber maybe allowed to communicate with the femtocell. Accordingly, the femtocellusage may somewhat resemble that of a macrocellular system. In a closedaccess scenario, the femtocell may serve a limited number of terminalsand/or subscribers that may be subscribed to a given cellular basestation. ID this regard, the cellular base station may be perceived asbeing deployed for private usage.

A regulatory issue with regard to femtocells is that they use licensedfrequencies that radiate at a very low power in a controlledenvironment. It may be likely that they may not require a license from alocal authority, as macrocellular base stations do. An additionalregulatory issue may arise from the relationship between a femtocelloperator and a broadband services operator. One possible scenario mayinclude the broadband operator being unaware of the existence of afemtocell operator. Conversely, the broadband operator and femtocelloperator may have an agreement or they may be the same operator, forexample. Interference between femtocells may be an issue for femtocelldeployments based on wideband technologies such as WCDMA, for example,because initial operator deployments may use the same frequency for boththe femtocell and the macrocellular networks or due to the proximity offemtocell base stations in dense urban areas.

There are a plurality of design models for deployment and integration offemtocells, for example, an IP based Iu-b interface, a sessioninitiation protocol (SIP) based approach using anIlu/A interface, use ofunlicensed spectrum in a technique known as unlicensed mobile access(UMA) and/or use of IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) voice call continuity(VCC), for example.

In an Iu-b model based femtocell deployment approach, femtocells may befully integrated into the wireless carrier's network and may be treatedlike any other remote node in a network. The Iu-b protocol may have aplurality of responsibilities, such as the management of commonchannels, common resources, and radio links along with configurationmanagement, including cell configuration management, measurementhandling and control, time division duplex (TDD) synchronization, and/orerror reporting, for example. In Iu-b configurations, mobile devices mayaccess the network and its services via the Node B link, and femtocellsmay be treated as traditional base stations.

In a SIP based femtocell deployment approach, a SIP client, embedded inthe femtocell may be enabled to utilize SIP to communicate with theSIP-enabled mobile switching center (MSC). The MSC may perform theoperational translation between the IP SIP network and the traditionalmobile network, for example.

In a UMA based femtocell deployment approach, a generic access network(GAN) may offer an alternative way to access GSM and GPRS core networkservices over broadband. To support this approach, a UMA NetworkController (UNC) and protocols that guarantee secure transport ofsignaling and user traffic over IP may be utilized. The UNC may beenabled to interface into a core network via existing 3GPP interfaces,for example, to support core network integration of femtocell basedservices by delivering a standards based, scalable IP interface formobile core networks.

In an IMS VCC based femtocell deployment approach, VCC may provide for anetwork design that may extend an IMS network to include cellularcoverage and address the handoff process. The IMS VCC may be designed toprovide seamless call continuity between cellular networks and anynetwork that supports VoIP, for example. The VCC may also provide forinteroperability between GSM, UMTS, and CDMA cellular networks and anyIP capable wireless access network, for example. The IMS VCC may alsosupport the use of a single phone number or SIP identity and may offer abroad collection of functional advantages, for example, support formultiple markets and market segments, provisioning of enhanced IMSmultimedia services, including greater service personalization andcontrol, seamless handoff between circuit-switched and IMS networks,and/or access to services from any IP device.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for timely delivery of multimedia content via afemtocell, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary cellular network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is an exemplary block diagram of a femtocell, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating exemplary timely delivery ofpacketized multimedia content from a non-cellular network node to acellular enabled communication device, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating exemplary timely delivery ofpacketized multimedia content from a cellular enabled communicationdevice to a non-cellular network node, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating portions of an exemplary femtocell andcellular enabled communication device which may communicate utilizingAVB, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for managing buffersin a femtocell to enable timely delivery of packetized multimediacontent, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor timely delivery of multimedia content via a femtocell. In variousembodiments of the invention, a femtocell may receive data via anupstream path and transmit data via a downstream path. One of theupstream path and downstream path may comprise a cellular path and theother may comprise a non-cellular path. One or both of the upstream pathand the downstream path may be audio video bridging (AVB) paths. Datamay be stored in the femtocell based on timing characteristics of one orboth of the upstream path and the downstream path. Exemplary timingcharacteristics may comprise variation in delay between adjacent packetsof a packet stream, and latency. Data may be delivered to the femtocellutilizing best effort delivery and the data may be forwarded by thefemtocell with guaranteed quality of service. The femtocell may beoperable to transcode received data to generate data for transmission.Cellular and/or non-cellular resources in the femtocell may be reserved,utilizing AVB protocols, for communication of one or more data streamsover the non-cellular and/or cellular path. The femtocell may besynchronized with a cellular enabled communication device utilizingand/or with a non-cellular device utilizing AVB protocols. The femtocellmay be operable to generate timestamps in accordance with AVB protocols.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary cellular network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1A,there is shown a cellular network 100 comprising sub-networks 101 a-101c. The exemplary sub-network 101 a may comprise a base station 102,femtocells 110 a-110 d, which are collectively referred to herein asfemtocells 110, and cellular enabled communication devices 112 a and 112c, which are collectively referred to herein as cellular enabledcommunication devices 112. The femtocells 110 may be installed in one ormore commercial properties 104, one or more residential properties 106,and/or one or more multi-tenant properties 108. The femtocells 110 maybe communicatively coupled to one or more networks 122 which may, forexample, couple the femtocells 110 to a backbone network.

The networks 122 a-122 d, collectively referred to herein as networks122, may comprise, for example, satellite networks, cable networks, DVBnetworks, the Internet, or similar local or wide area networks, whichare capable of conveying data which may comprise, for example,multimedia. The connections 120 a-120 d, collectively referred to hereinas connections 120, may comprise optical, wired, and/or wireless links.In various embodiments of the invention, one or more of the networks 122a-122 d and/or the connections 120 a-120 d may support audio videobridging (AVB) protocols. Individual protocols associated with AVBcomprise, among others, IEEE P802.1AS—IEEE Standard for Local andMetropolitan Area Networks—Timing and Synchronization for Time-SensitiveApplications in Bridged Local Area Networks, IEEE P802.1Qat—IEEEStandard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged LocalArea Networks—Amendment 9: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP), IEEEP802.1Qav: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks:Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 11: Forwarding and Queuingfor Time-Sensitive Streams, and IEEE 802.1BA: IEEE Standard for Localand Metropolitan Area Networks—Audio Video Bridging (AVB) Systems.

The commercial properties 104 may comprise, for example, stores,restaurants, offices, and municipal buildings. The residentialproperties 106 may comprise, for example, single-family homes, homeoffices, and/or town-houses. Multi-tenant properties 108 may compriseresidential and/or commercial tenants such as apartments, condos,hotels, and/or high rises.

The base station 102 may be operable to communicate data wirelesslyutilizing one or more cellular standards such as IS-95, CDMA2000, GSM,UMTS, TD-SCDMA, extensions thereto, and/or variants thereof. “Data,” asutilized herein, may refer to any analog and/or digital informationincluding but not limited to voice, Internet data, and/or multimediacontent. Multimedia content may comprise audio and/or visual contentcomprising, video, still images, animated images, and/or textualcontent. The base station 102 may communicate with cellular enabledcommunication devices such as the cellular enabled communication devices112. Exemplary cellular standards supported by the base station 102 maybe specified in the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000(IMT-2000) standard and/or developed by the 3^(rd) generationpartnership project (3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd) generation partnershipproject 2 (3GPP2). The base station 102 may communicate data amongst thevarious components of the sub-network 101 a. Additionally, datacommunicated to and/or from the base station 102 may be communicated tosub-network 101 b, sub-network 101 c, and/or to one or more othernetworks (not shown) via one or more backhaul links 103. In this manner,data communicated to and/or from the base station 102 may becommunicated to and/or from, other portions of the network 100 and/orother networks. Exemplary networks with which data may be communicatedmay comprise public switched telephone networks (PSTN) and/or IPnetworks such as the Internet or an Intranet.

The cellular enabled communication devices 112 may each comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be operable tocommunicate utilizing one or more cellular standards. In this regard,the cellular enabled communication devices 112 may each be operable totransmit and/or receive data via the cellular network 100. Exemplarycellular enabled communication devices may comprise laptop computers,mobile phones, and personal media players. The cellular enabledcommunication devices 112 may be enabled to transmit, receive, process,and present multimedia content and may additionally be enabled run anetwork browser or other applications for providing Internet services toa user of the cellular enabled communication device 112. One or more ofthe cellular enabled communication devices 112 may be operable toutilize AVB protocols, or a subset thereof, for communicating overcellular links. In this regard, resources in a cellular enabledcommunication device 112 associated with cellular communications may bereserved for certain datastreams, resources in a cellular enabledcommunication devices 112 may be synchronized with one or morefemtocells, and/or the cellular enabled communication devices 112 may beoperable to guarantee processing and forwarding of received data withina specified amount of time.

The femtocells 110 may each comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to communicate wirelesslyutilizing one or more cellular standards such as IS-95, CDMA2000, GSM,UMTS, TD-SCDMA, extensions thereto, and/or variants thereof. In thisregard, the femtocells 110 may each communicate with cellular enabledcommunication devices such as the cellular enabled communication devices112. Exemplary cellular standards supported by the femtocells 110 may bespecified in the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000)standard and/or developed by the 3^(rd) generation partnership project(3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd) generation partnership project 2 (3GPP2). Oneor more of the femtocells 110 may be operable to utilize AVB protocols,or a subset thereof, for communicating over cellular links. In thisregard, resources in a femtocell 110 associated with cellularcommunications may be reserved for certain datastreams, resources in afemtocell 110 may be synchronized with one or more cellular linkpartners, and/or the femtocell 110 may be operable to guaranteeprocessing and forwarding of received data within a specified amount oftime.

Additionally, the femtocells 110 may each comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be operable to communicate over an IPnetwork (not shown in FIG. 1A). The femtocells 110 may each becommunicatively coupled to a network 122 via a network link 120. Thenetworks 122 may provide connectivity via, for example, proprietarynetworks, local area networks (LAN), and/or or the Internet. In variousembodiments of the invention, the networks 122 may utilize transmissioncontrol protocol (TCP) and Internet protocol (IP). The network links 120may each comprise wired and/or wireless links. Exemplary wired links maycomprise fiber or twisted pair copper cabling operable to support, forexample, Ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394, digital subscriber line (DSL), or aT1 line. Exemplary wireless links may comprise Wi-Fi, WiMax, wirelessUSB, ZigBee, and Bluetooth. One or more of the femtocells 110 may beoperable to utilize AVB protocols, or a portion thereof, forcommunicating over non-cellular links. In this regard, resources in afemtocell 110 associated with non-cellular communications may bereserved for certain datastreams, resources in a femtocell 110 may besynchronized with one or more non-cellular link partners, and/or thefemtocell 110 may be operable to guarantee processing and/or forwardingof received data within a specified amount of time.

In various embodiments of the invention, a femtocell 110 may be operableto recover or acquire information related to one or more non-AVB pathstraversed by a packet stream. The non-AVB paths may comprise one or morecellular links and/or one or more non-cellular links. A femtocell 110may characterize a non-AVB upstream path—a path via which a packetstream arrives at a femtocell 110 from a content source (such as thenode 202 of FIG. 2A)—by monitoring and/or inspecting packets receivedvia the upstream path. Similarly, a femtocell 110 may characterize anon-AVB downstream path—a path via which a femtocell communicatescontent to an end-device—by monitoring and/or inspecting acknowledgementand/or control packets received from a downstream device. Thenomenclature downstream and upstream path as used herein refers theprimary direction of data for a datastream, however, a path may bebidirectional or unidirectional. In this regard, the femtocell 110 maybe operable to determine, for example, the number and/or type of networkhops and/or nodes which a packet stream traverses in arriving at thefemtocell 110. In some instances, the non-AVB paths may still support asynchronization method such as IEEE 1588 and thus packet timestamps maybe utilized to determine packet variable delay (also referred to aspacket jitter) and/or latency.

In various embodiments of the invention, a femtocell 110 may be operableto recover or acquire information related to one or more AVB pathstraversed by a packet stream. An AVB path may comprise two or more AVBenabled network nodes that are communicatively coupled via at least onenetwork link. An AVB path may be bidirectional or unidirectional. TheAVB nodes may be synchronized, the AVB nodes may be operable to storeand forward packets within a guaranteed amount of time, and resources ineach of AVB nodes may be reserved for one or more packet streams. Invarious embodiments of the invention, the AVB paths may comprise one ormore cellular links and/or one or more non-cellular links and one ormore cellular and/or non-cellular devices. A femtocell 110 maycharacterize an AVB path based on AVB packets received via the path,reservation packets or bridge protocol data units (BPDUs), and/orsynchronization packets or BPDUs. For example, a class of serviceassociated with an AVB stream and corresponding timing parametersdefined in the AVB standards may be utilized to characterize a networkpath.

In operation, a packet stream comprising multimedia content may betransmitted from a content source (not shown in FIG. 1A) to a femtocell110, e.g., femtocell 110 b, via the network connection 120 b. Thefemtocell 110 b may buffer the received packet stream, process thepacket stream, generate a corresponding packet stream, and/or transmitthe corresponding packet stream to the cellular enabled communicationdevice 112 c. In order to ensure that the packets are delivered to thecellular enabled communication device 112 c in a timely manner, thefemtocell 110 b may manage the size and/or thresholds of buffersutilized to buffer the packet stream, the corresponding packet stream,and/or the multimedia content recovered from the packet stream. In thisregard, the femtocell 110 b may characterize the upstream path, whichcomprises the link 120 b, traversed by the packet stream en route to thefemtocell 110 b. Additionally and/or alternatively, the femtocell 110 bmay characterize the downstream path, which comprises a cellular link,traversed by the packet en route to the cellular enabled communicationdevice 112 c. Exemplary characteristics of a network path that may bedetermined are packet variable delay (referred to herein as packetjitter) and latency.

In some embodiments of the invention, actual variable packet delayand/or latency present in the packet stream may be determined. In someembodiments of the invention, maximum tolerable variable packet delayand/or latency for the packet stream may be determined. Accordingly, thefemtocell 110 b may optimize the buffer sizes and/or thresholds tooptimize packet latency and variable packet delay such that themultimedia content may be received, processed, and presented in a timelymanner in the cellular enabled communication device 112.

In various embodiments of the invention, the content source, one or moreof the intermediate nodes along the path, and/or a femtocell 110 maymodify packets such that information pertaining to the nodes and/or hopstraversed by those packets may be determined by monitoring the arrivalof and/or inspecting the contents of, the packets. Alternatively and/oradditionally, a femtocell 110 may utilize one or more databases, orsimilar data structures, for determining timing characteristics of nodesand/or hops along an upstream and/or downstream path based on, forexample, IP addresses of the nodes traversed. In this regard, the datastructure may be stored within a femtocell 110 and/or may be stored in anetwork entity accessibly by a femtocell 110 via a corresponding networklink 120.

In various embodiments of the invention, the path traversed by thepackets may be established and characterized utilizing Audio VideoBridging (AVB) protocols. In this regard, resource reservation mayestablish a deterministic path from a content source to a femtocell.Accordingly, timing characteristics of a network path which may compriseone or more femtocells may be determined based on a level of serviceassigned to the packets, by information in the packets, and/or by bridgeprotocol data units (BPDU) or other information communicated in additionto the packets. With regard to information in the packets, the packetsmay comprise one or more fields defined or modified by one or more AVBprotocols. For example, a packet may comprise one or more of a VLANidentifier field, a stream identifier filed, a class of service field,an Ethertype field, source address field, and a destination addressfield.

Thus, the femtocell 110 b may utilize the path characterizations tomanage capacity and/cm thresholds of one or more buffers. The buffersmay be managed based on whether an upstream path is an AVB path, whethera downstream path is an AVB path, and based on timing characteristics ofthe upstream and downstream paths.

FIG. 1B is an exemplary block diagram of a femtocell, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1B, there is shown afemtocell 150 comprising an antenna 152, a cellular transmitter and/orreceiver (Tx/Rx) 154, a broadband transmitter and/or receiver (Tx/Rx)156, a processor 158, a memory 160, a digital signal processor (DSP)162, and a network connection 164. The femtocell 150, may be similar toor the same as the femtocells 110 described with respect to FIG. 1A.

The antenna 152 may be suitable for transmitting and/or receivingcellular signals. Although a single antenna is illustrated, theinvention is not so limited. In this regard, the cellular Tx/Rx 154 mayutilize a common antenna for transmission and reception, may utilizedifferent antennas for transmission and reception, and/or may utilize aplurality of antennas for transmission and/or reception.

The cellular Tx/Rx 154 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or codethat may be operable to transmit and/or receive voice and/or datautilizing one or more cellular standards. The cellular Tx/Rx 154 may beoperable to perform amplification, down-conversion, filtering,demodulation, and analog to digital conversion of received cellularsignals. The cellular Tx/Rx 154 may be operable to performamplification, up-conversion, filtering, modulation, and digital toanalog conversion of transmitted cellular signals. The cellular Tx/Rx154 may support communication over a plurality of communication channelsutilizing time division multiple access (TDMA) and/or code divisionmultiple access (CDMA). Exemplary cellular standards supported by thefemtocells 110 may be specified in the International MobileTelecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) standard and/or developed by the3^(rd) generation partnership project (3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd)generation partnership project 2 (3GPP2). In various embodiments of theinvention, the cellular Tx/Rx 154 may be operable to support AVBprotocols, or a subset thereof. Additionally, an amount of time toreceive and process ingress cellular packets, and/or an amount of timeto process and transmit egress cellular packets, may be fixed, boundedby a maximum, and/or known in the femtocell 150. In such embodiments, itmay be possible to guarantee quality of service between the femtocell150 and a cellular enabled communication device.

The broadband Tx/Rx 156 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be operable to transmit voice and/or data in adherence toone or more broadband standards. The broadband Tx/Rx 156 may be operableto perform amplification, down-conversion, filtering, demodulation, andanalog to digital conversion of received signals. The broadband Tx/Rx156 may be operable to perform amplification, up-conversion, filtering,modulation, and digital to analog conversion of transmitted signals. Invarious exemplary embodiments of the invention, the broadband Tx/Rx 156may transmit and/or receive voice and/or data over the link 157 whichmay be a T1/E1 line, passive optical network (PON), DSL, cabletelevision infrastructure, satellite broadband Internet connection,satellite television infrastructure, and/or Ethernet. In variousembodiments of the invention, the cellular Tx/Rx 154 may be operable tosupport AVB protocols, or a subset thereof. Additionally, an amount oftime to receive and process ingress cellular packets, and/or an amountof time to process and transmit egress cellular packets, may be fixed,bounded by a maximum, and/or known in the femtocell 150. In suchembodiments, it may be possible to guarantee quality of service betweenthe femtocell 150 and a non-cellular device.

The processor 158 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may enable processing data and/or controlling operations of thefemtocell 150. With regard to processing data, the processor 158 mayenable packetization, de-packetization, transcoding, reformatting,and/or otherwise processing data received from and/or to be transmittedby the cellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or from the broadband Tx/Rx 156. In thisregard, the processor 158 may be operable to packetize received packetsand process the resulting packets to determine a path traversed by thepackets en route from the packets' source to the femtocell 150. Thereceived packets may be part of a packet stream and/or may be controland/or control packets. In some embodiments of the invention, the pathinformation may be recovered or extracted, from the packets. In someembodiments of the invention, associated information, such as traversedIP addresses, may be recovered from the received packets and theassociated information may be referenced to a database or similar datastructure to determine the path information. In some embodiments of theinvention, AVB may be utilized and a stream ID, class of service, orother AVB related information, may be recovered from the packets andutilized to determine path information.

With regard to controlling operations of the femtocell 150, theprocessor 158 may be enabled to provide control signals to the variousother blocks comprising the femtocell 150. The processor 158 may alsocontrol data transfers between various portions of the femtocell 150.Additionally, the processor 158 may enable execution of applicationsprograms and/or code. In various embodiments of the invention, theapplications, programs, and/or code may enable, for example, parsing,transcoding, determining path information for received packets, orotherwise processing data. In various embodiments of the invention, theapplications, programs, and/or code may enable, for example, configuringor controlling operation of the cellular Tx/Rx 154, the broadband Tx/Rx156, the DSP 162, and/or the memory 160.

The memory 160 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code thatmay enable storage or programming of information that includesparameters and/or code that may effectuate the operation of thefemtocell 150. The parameters may comprise configuration data and thecode may comprise operational code such as software and/or firmware, butthe information need not be limited in this regard. Moreover, theparameters may include adaptive filter and/or block coefficients.Additionally, the memory 160 may comprise one or more buffers 166 forstoring packets received via the cellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or the broadbandTx/Rx 156 and/or packets to be transmitted via the cellular Tx/Rx 154and/or the broadband Tx/Rx 156. The capacity of the buffers 166 may becontrolled via, for example, one or more control signals from theprocessor 158, the cellular Tx/Rx 154, the broadband Tx/Rx 156, and/orthe DSP 162. Additionally, the buffers 166 may output one or more statussignals to the processor 158, the cellular Tx/Rx 154, the broadbandTx/Rx 156, and/or the DSP 162. For example, “buffer almost full”,“buffer full”, “buffer almost empty”, and “buffer empty” status signalsmay be utilized by the cellular Tx/Rx 154 the broadband Tx/Rx 156 tocontrol a rate at which data is written to or read from the buffers 166.The thresholds for the status signals may be variable and controlled viaone or more control signals from the processor 158, the cellular Tx/Rx154, the broadband Tx/Rx 156, and/or the DSP 162. Thus, the memory 160may enable packetization, de-packetization, transcoding, reformatting,and/or otherwise processing data received from and/or to be transmittedby the cellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or from the broadband Tx/Rx 156.

The DSP 162 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code operableto perform computationally intensive processing of data. In variousembodiments of the invention, the DSP 162 may encode, decode, modulate,demodulate, encrypt, decrypt, scramble, descramble, and/or otherwiseprocess data. In various embodiments of the invention, the DSP 162 maybe enabled to adjust a modulation scheme, error coding scheme, and/ordata rates of transmitted cellular signals data.

In various embodiments of the invention, the femtocell 150 may supportAVB protocols or a portion thereof. For example, the cellular Tx/Rx 154and/or the broadband Tx/Rx 156 may be synchronized to other cellular ornon-cellular, respectively, network devices utilizing IEEE 802.1AS orIEEE 1588. Also, resources, such as bandwidth in the cellular Tx/Rx 154and/or broadband Tx/Rx 156, space in the memory 160, and/or time in theprocessor 158 and/or the DSP 162, may be reserved for one or more AVBstreams. Additionally, buffering of received data and/ordata-to-be-transmitted may be based on whether the upstream path and/ordownstream path are AVB paths and based on determined characteristics ofthe upstream and downstream paths. In this regard, the femtocell 150 maybe operable to manage transmit and/or receive buffers to guarantee aquality of service over AVB paths and provide best possible levels ofservice over non-AVB paths.

In operation, the femtocell 150 may receive a packet comprisingmultimedia content via the cellular Tx/Rx 154 or the broadband Tx/Rx156. A timestamp may be generated corresponding to the arrival time ofthe packet. The received packet may be buffered in the memory 160. Theprocessor 158 may parse and/or de-packetize the packet to recover thedata contained therein. Additionally, the processor may inspect thecontents of the packet to determine whether it is an AVB packet and/orto determine timing requirements of the packet. The packet inspectionand the timestamp may be utilized to characterize the upstream path viawhich the packet was received and to manage the buffering of the packetfor forwarding. Also, the processor 158, the memory 160, and/or the DSP162 may transcode or otherwise process the received packet to generate atranscoded packet to be transmitted to a downstream node via the via thecellular Tx/Rx 154 or the broadband Tx/Rx 156. In this regard, atimestamp may be generated corresponding to a transmission time of thetranscoded packet.

In various embodiments of the invention, the format of packets receivedfrom the cellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or from the broadband Tx/Rx 156 maydepend on the standards and/or protocols in use. Accordingly, thefemtocell 150 may be enabled to determine standards and/or protocolsused in generating the packets such that the packets may be processedappropriately. Similarly, the format of packets to be transmitted by thecellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or from the broadband Tx/Rx 156 may varydepending on standards and/or protocols in use. Accordingly, thefemtocell 150 may be enabled to packetize data according to one or morestandards.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating exemplary timely delivery ofpacketized multimedia content from a non-cellular network node to acellular enabled communication device, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. Referring to FIG. 2A, there is shown an upstream path210, and a downstream path 212. The upstream path 210 may comprise anon-cellular network node 202, a network link 203, a non-cellular node204, a network link 205, and a femtocell 206. The downstream path 212may comprise a cellular link 207 and a cellular enabled communicationdevice 208.

The non-cellular network node 202 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be operable to generate encode, decode,compress, decompress, encrypt, decrypt, present, buffer, and/orotherwise process multimedia content. The non-cellular network node 202may be operable to packetize the multimedia content and transmit thepacket stream onto a network link. The non-cellular network node 202 maybe operable to receive a packet stream and recover data from the packetstream. In various embodiments of the invention, the non-cellularnetwork node 204 may be operable to utilize AVB. In various exemplaryembodiments of the invention, the node 202 may be a content sourceoperable to transmit content in adherence to, for example, DVB or otherdigital audio and/or video standards. Exemplary non-cellular devicescomprise laptop computers, personal computers, and set-top boxes. Invarious exemplary embodiments of the invention, the node 202 maycomprise a media display operable to receive and present content inadherence to, for example, DVB or other digital audio and/or videostandards. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in thenon-cellular communication standards and/or protocols utilized by thenode 202.

The network links 203 and 205 may each comprise a wired, optical, orwireless communication link. The network link 203 may be a first hop onthe path from the non-cellular node 202 to the cellular enabledcommunication device 208. The network link 205 may be a second hop onthe path from the non-cellular node 202 to the cellular enabledcommunication device 208. In various embodiments of the invention, eachof the links 203 and 205 may be a non-AVB link or may support at least aportion of AVB protocols.

The non-cellular network node 204 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code operable to receive, process, and transmitpackets comprising, for example, multimedia content. In variousembodiments of the invention, the non-cellular network node 204 may beoperable to utilize AVB. The non-cellular node 204 may be operable tocommunicate via one or more wired or wireless communication standardssuch as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WiMax, USB, IEEE 1394, ZigBee, and/orBluetooth. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in thenon-cellular communication standards and/or protocols utilized by thenode 204. In various exemplary embodiments of the invention, the node204 may comprise a bridge, switch, router, and/or other networkingdevice.

The femtocell 206 may be similar to or the same as the femtocells 110and/or 150 described with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively.

The cellular link 207 may comprise one or more cellular communicationchannels between the femtocell 206 and the cellular enabledcommunication device. In this regard, the cellular link 207 may utilizeone or more of the cellular communication standards described withrespect to FIG. 1A.

The cellular enabled communication device 208 may be similar to or thesame as the cellular enabled communication devices 112 described withrespect to FIG. 1A.

In operation, the non-cellular node 202 may packetize multimedia contentand may communicate the resulting packet stream onto the network link203. The packet stream may subsequently arrive at the network node 204which may forward the packets onto the link 205. The packet stream maysubsequently arrive at the femtocell 206. The femtocell 206 may storethe received packets in one or more buffers. In this regard, capacityand/or thresholds of the buffers may be managed based on timingcharacteristics of the upstream path 210 and/or downstream path 212. Thefemtocell 206 may communicate acknowledgment and/or other auxiliarypackets to the node 204. In instances that the upstream path 210 is anAVB path, a stream ID and/or class of service may be utilized tocharacterize the upstream path 210 and timing requirements of thestream. In instances that the upstream path 210 is non-AVB, thefemtocell 206 may inspect the received packets to characterize theupstream path 210 and timing requirements of the stream. In this regard,the determination may be made based, for example, on informationinserted into the packet stream by the nodes 202 and/or 204. Jitterand/or latency information may be utilized to control capacity and/orthresholds of the one or more receive buffers utilized for storing thereceived packets in the femtocell 206.

The femtocell 206 may re-packetize the multimedia content recovered fromthe received packets into one or more corresponding packets suitable fortransmission via the cellular link 207. In this regard, the femtocell206 may, if necessary, transcode the packets from a format suitable fortransmission over a non-cellular path to a format suitable fortransmission over a cellular path. In generating the packet stream, thetranscoded multimedia content and/or packets may be stored in one ormore buffers. In this regard, capacity and/or thresholds of the buffersmay be managed based on timing characteristics of the upstream path 210and/or the downstream path 212. In this regard, the femtocell 206 may beoperable to determine variable packet delay and/or latency introduced bythe downstream path 212. In instances that the downstream path 212 is anAVB path, a stream ID and/or class of service may be utilized tocharacterize the downstream path 212. In instances that the downstreampath 212 is non-AVB, the femtocell 206 may inspect acknowledgementand/or auxiliary packets received via the downstream path 212 tocharacterize the downstream path 212. In this regard, the determinationmay be made based, for example, on information inserted into the packetstream by the cellular enabled communication device 208. In variousexemplary embodiments of the invention, the femtocell 206 may insertdetermined variable packet delay and/or latency information into thecorresponding packets that may be utilized by downstream nodes.

The cellular enabled communication device 208 may receive thecorresponding packet stream and may store the received packets in one ormore buffers. Capacity and/or thresholds of the one or more buffers maybe managed based on timing characteristics communicated to the cellularenabled communication device 208 and/or determined by the cellularenabled communication device 208. The buffered content may then bedecoded, presented, and/or otherwise presented by the cellular enabledcommunication device 208.

In this manner, buffer management based on timing characteristics of atraversed network path may enable multimedia content communicated from anon-cellular node to a cellular enabled communication device via afemtocell to be decoded, presented, and/or otherwise processed in atimely manner. In this regard, the content may be presented with, forexample, minimal interruptions, minimal degradation of audio or video,and/or a minimum number of dropped frames.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the upstream path 210 maybe a non-AVB path and the downstream path 212 may be an AVB path.Accordingly, data, such as multimedia content, from the node 202 may bequeued on the femtocell 206 for a period of time and then the queueddata may be delivered with guaranteed quality of service to the cellularenabled communication device via the downstream path 212. The amount oftime the data is buffered by the femtocell 206 may depend, at least inpart, on timing characteristics of the upstream path 210. In thismanner, data may be downloaded, utilizing best effort delivery, from thenode 202 to the femtocell 206, and subsequently delivered, with aguaranteed quality of service, from the femtocell 206 to the cellularenabled communication device 208.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating exemplary timely delivery ofpacketized multimedia content from a cellular enabled communicationdevice to a non-cellular network node, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. Referring to FIG. 2B, there is shown an upstream path222 comprising a cellular enabled communication device 208 and acellular link 207, and a downstream path 220 comprising a network link205, non-cellular node 204, a network link 203, and a non-cellularnetwork node 202. In this regard, FIG. 2B depicts a packet stream beingconveyed in the opposite direction of the packet stream of FIG. 2A.

The non-cellular network device 202, the network links 203 and 205, thenon-cellular network node 204, the femtocell 206, the cellular link 207,and the cellular enabled communication device 208 may be as describedwith respect to FIG. 2A.

In operation, the cellular enabled communication device 208 maypacketize multimedia content and may communicate the resulting packetstream onto the cellular link 207. In instances that the upstream path222 is a non-AVB path, information to identify and/or characterize thecellular enabled communication device 208 and/or the link 207 may beinserted into the packets by the cellular enabled communication device208. The inserted information may be utilized by downstream nodes todetermine timing characteristics of the path traversed by the packetstream. In instances that the upstream path 222 is an AVB path, pathcharacteristics and timing requirements of the packet stream may bedetermined based on, for example, stream ID, class of service,reservation packets or BPDUs exchanged to setup the upstream path 222,and/or synchronization packets or BPDUs exchanged to synchronize thecellular enabled communication device 208 to the femtocell 206.

The packet stream may subsequently arrive at the femtocell 206. Thefemtocell 206 may communicate acknowledgment and/or other auxiliarypackets to the femtocell 206. The femtocell 206 may store the receivedpackets in one or more receive buffers. The buffers may be managed basedon characteristics of the upstream path 222 and timing requirements ofthe packet stream. In instances that the upstream path 222 is an AVBpath, a stream ID and/or class of service may be utilized tocharacterize the upstream path 222. In instances that the upstream path222 is non-AVB, the femtocell 206 may inspect the received packets tocharacterize the upstream path 210. In this regard, the determinationmay be made based, for example, on information inserted into the packetstream by cellular enabled communication device 208. In this manner, thefemtocell 206 may be operable to determine variable packet delay and/orlatency introduced by the cellular enabled communication device 208 andthe link 207.

The femtocell 206 may re-packetize the multimedia content recovered fromthe received packets into one or more corresponding packets suitable fortransmission via the link 205. In this regard, the femtocell 206 may, ifnecessary, transcode the packets from a format suitable for transmissionover a non-cellular path to a format suitable for transmission over acellular path. In generating the transcoded packet stream, themultimedia content and/or the generated packets may be stored in one ormore transmit buffers. In this regard, capacity and/or thresholds ofbuffers may be managed based on timing characteristics of the downstreampath 220. In instances that the downstream path 220 is an AVB path, astream ID and/or class of service may be utilized to characterize thedownstream path 220. In instances that the downstream path 220 isnon-AVB, the femtocell 206 may inspect acknowledgement and/or auxiliarypackets received via the downstream path 220 to characterize thedownstream path 220. In this regard, the determination may be madebased, for example, on information inserted into the packet stream bythe cellular enabled communication device 208. In various exemplaryembodiments of the invention, the femtocell 206 may insert determinedvariable packet delay and/or latency information, which may be utilizedby downstream nodes, into the transcoded packets.

The corresponding packet stream may subsequently arrive at the networknode 204 which may forward the packets onto the link 203. Additionally,the node 204 may communicate acknowledgment and/or other auxiliarypackets to the femtocell 206. In various exemplary embodiments of theinvention, information to identify and/or characterize the node 204and/or the link 203 may be inserted into the packets by the node 204.The inserted information and/or AVB may be utilized by downstream nodesto determine timing characteristics of the downstream path.

The node 202 may receive the corresponding packet stream and may storethe received packets in one or more buffers. Capacity and/or thresholdsof the one or more buffers may be managed based on path characteristicscommunicated to the node 202 and/or determined by the node 202. Thebuffered content may then be decoded, presented, and/or otherwisepresented by the cellular enabled communication device 208.

In this manner, buffer management based on timing characteristics ofnetwork paths may enable multimedia content communicated from a cellularenabled communication device to a non-cellular node via a femtocell tobe decoded, presented, and/or otherwise processed in a timely manner. Inthis regard, the content may be presented with, for example, minimalinterruptions, minimal degradation of audio or video, and/or a minimumnumber of dropped frames.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the upstream path 222 maybe a non-AVB path and the downstream path 220 may be an AVB path.Accordingly, data, such as multimedia content, from the cellular enabledcommunication device 208 may be queued on the femtocell 206 for a periodof time and then the queued data may be delivered with guaranteedquality of service to the node 202 via the downstream path 220. Theamount of time the data is buffered by the femtocell 206 may depend, atleast in part, on timing characteristics of the upstream path 222. Inthis manner, data may be downloaded, utilizing best effort delivery,from the cellular enabled communication device 208 to the femtocell 206,and subsequently delivered, with a guaranteed quality of service, fromthe femtocell 206 to the node 202.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating portions of an exemplary femtocell andcellular enabled communication device which may communicate utilizingAVB, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 3, there is shown a portion 301 of a femtocell and portion 321 of acellular enabled communication device. The portion 301 of the femtocellmay comprise anon-cellular media access control (MAC) client 302, acellular MAC client 312, an non-cellular AVB shim 306, a cellular AVBshim 316, a non-cellular MAC and physical layer transmitter and/orreceiver (MAC/PHY) 308, and a cellular MAC/PHY 318. The portion 321 ofthe cellular enabled communication device may comprise a cellular MACclient 322, a cellular AVB shim 326, and a cellular MAC/PHY 328.

The non-cellular MAC client 302 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may enable reception of data from another portion, suchas a processor, of the femtocell, and may enable encapsulating the datain one or more non-cellular packets. Additionally, the non-cellular MACclient 302 may be enabled to receive non-cellular packets from thenon-cellular MAC/PHY 308 and may enable decapsulation of thenon-cellular packets to extract data which may comprise, for example,multimedia, auxiliary, control, or general Internet data. In thisregard, non-cellular packets may be formatted and/or encapsulatedaccording to one or more protocols. The non-cellular MAC client 302 mayreceive control signals and/or data from a processor, such as theprocessor 158. Additionally, the non-cellular MAC client 302 may storedata to and/or read data from a memory, such as the memory 160. Thenon-cellular MAC client 302 may be implemented in one or more physicaland/or functional blocks. In this regard, various functions implementedby the non-cellular MAC client 302 may be shared and/or separatedphysically and/or functionally.

The non-cellular AVB shim 306 may comprise suitable logic, circuitryand/or code that may enable timely transmission and/or reception ofnon-cellular packets. The non-cellular AVB shim 306 may append timesynchronization information, such as a time stamp, to non-cellularpackets. The non-cellular AVB shim 306 may append a time stamp when, forexample, an Ethertype field indicates that an Ethernet frame is toutilize AV Bridging capabilities for transport across a network. Thenon-cellular AVB shim 306 may receive control signals and/or data from aprocessor, such as the processor 158. Additionally, the non-cellular AVBshim 306 may store data to and/or read data from a memory, such as thememory 160. The non-cellular AVB shim 306 may be implemented in one ormore physical and/or functional blocks. In this regard, variousfunctions implemented by the non-cellular AVB shim 306 may be sharedand/or separated physically and/or functionally. In various embodimentsof the invention, the non-cellular AVB shim 306 may or may not bepresent and/or may or not be enabled, as indicated by the dashed line.The AVB shim may not be enabled, for example, when the femtocell iscommunicatively coupled to a non-AVB enabled non-cellular networkdevice.

The non-cellular MAC/PHY 308 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, andor code that may enable providing addressing and/or access control to anetwork and may enable the transmission of non-cellular packets via anetwork. In this regard, the non-cellular MAC/PHY 308 may be enabled tobuffer, prioritize, or otherwise coordinate the transmission and/orreception of data via an associated physical link. The non-cellularMAC/PHY 308 may be enabled to perform additional packetization,depacketization, encapsulation, and decapsulation of data. Thenon-cellular MAC/PHY 308 may enable generation of header informationwithin the non-cellular packets, which enable the utilization of AVBwithin a network for transport of the non-cellular packets. Thenon-cellular MAC/PHY 308 may also enable traffic shaping and/or buffermanagement by determining time instants at which non-cellular packetsmay be transmitted onto a non-cellular link.

The cellular MAC clients 312 and 322 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may enable reception of data from anotherportion, such as a processor, of the femtocell and cellular enabledcommunication device, respectively, and may enable encapsulating thedata in one or more cellular packets. Additionally, the cellular MACclients 312 and 322 may be enabled to receive cellular packets from thecellular MAC/PHYs 318 and 328, respectively, and may enabledecapsulation of the cellular packets to extract data which maycomprise, for example, multimedia, auxiliary, control, or generalInternet data. In this regard, cellular packets may be formatted and/orencapsulated according to one or more protocols. The cellular MACclients 312 and 322 may receive control signals and/or data from aprocessor, such as the processor 158. Additionally, the cellular MACclients 312 and 322 may store data to and/or read data from a memory,such as the memory 160. The cellular MAC clients 312 and 322 may beimplemented in one or more physical and/or functional blocks. In thisregard, various functions implemented by the cellular MAC client 312 and322 may be shared and/or separated physically and/or functionally.

The cellular AVB shims 316 and 326 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry and/or code that may enable timely transmission and/orreception of cellular packets. The cellular AVB shims 316 and 326 mayappend time synchronization information, such as a timestamp, tocellular packets. The cellular AVB shims 316 and 326 may, for example,append a time stamp when a packet header indicates that the packet is toutilize AV Bridging capabilities for transport across a cellularnetwork. The cellular AVB shims 316 and 326 may receive control signalsand/or data from a processor, such as the processor 158. Additionally,the cellular AVB shims 316 and 326 may store data to and/or read datafrom a memory, such as the memory 160. The cellular AVB shims 316 and326 may be implemented in one or more physical and/or functional blocks.In this regard, various functions implemented by the cellular AVB shims316 and 326 may be shared and/or separated physically and/orfunctionally. In various embodiments of the invention, the AVB shims 316and 326 may or may not be present and/or may or not be enabled, asindicated by the dashed line. For example, one of the AVB shims 316 and326 may not be enabled when the other is not present, in other words,when either the femtocell or the cellular enabled communication devicedoes not support AVB over cellular.

The cellular media access controller and physical layer transceiver(MAC/PHY) 318 and 328 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and orcode that may enable providing addressing and/or access control to anetwork and may enable the transmission of the cellular data via anetwork. In this regard, the cellular MAC/PHYs 318 and 328 may beenabled to buffer, prioritize, or otherwise coordinate the transmissionand/or reception of data via an associated physical link. The cellularMAC/PHYs 318 and 328 may be enabled to perform additional packetization,depacketization, encapsulation, and decapsulation of data. The cellularMAC/PHYs 318 and 328 may enable generation of header information withinthe cellular packets, which enable the utilization of AVB within anetwork for transport of the cellular packets. The MAC/PHYs 318 and 328may also enable traffic shaping and/or buffer management by determiningtime instants at which cellular packets may be transmitted onto acellular link.

In operation, a non-cellular packet may be received via the non-cellularMAC/PHY 308 and communicated up through the non-cellular MAC/PHY 308 andnon-cellular MAC client 302 to some higher layer functions and/ormodules for transcoding. In instances that the AVB shim 306 is presentand enabled, a timestamp may be generated upon the data being passed upto the AVB shim 306. The generated timestamp may be utilized tocharacterize the path and/or determining timing requirements of thedata. In instances that the AVB shim 306 is not present and enabled, apath via which the packets were received may be characterized based on,for example, knowledge of the network topology stored in a datastructure. Also, in instances, that the AVB shim 306 is not present andenabled, timing requirements of the packet may be characterized based oninformation communicated with the packet. Additionally, an amount oftime for packets to pass up through the non-cellular MAC/PHY 308 may befixed or known (within a tolerance) and may be utilized in conjunctionwith determined path characteristics and/or timing requirements tomanage buffering, processing, and forwarding of received data.

The transcoded data may be communicated to the cellular MAC client 312and may proceed down to the cellular MAC/PHY 318 for communication via acellular link. In instances that the cellular link supports AVB, the AVBshim 316 may generate a timestamp as the data passes to the cellularMAC/PHY 318. The timestamp combined with a fixed or known delay throughthe MAC/PHY 318 may enable timely delivery of the data. Upon arriving atthe cellular enabled communication device, the data may proceed upthrough the cellular MAC/PHY 328, cellular AVB shim 326, and cellularMAC client 324 in a similar manner as in the femtocell.

Communication in the other direction—from the cellular enabledcommunication device to the femtocell—may proceed in a similar manner.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for managing buffersin a femtocell to enable timely delivery of packetized multimediacontent, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4, the exemplary steps may begin with step 302 when a femtocellreceives a packet that is part of a packetized multimedia stream. Invarious embodiments of the invention, the received packet may be storedin one or more receive buffers prior to or during processing by thefemtocell. Subsequent to step 402, the exemplary steps may advance tostep 404.

In step 404, the femtocell may parse or otherwise process the receivedpacket to recover the multimedia content contained therein.Additionally, the femtocell may determine information about the nodesand/or hops traversed by the packet. The determined path information maybe utilized to determine timing characteristics such as variable packetdelay and/or latency. Subsequent to step 404, the exemplary steps mayadvance to step 406.

In step 406, a capacity and/or one or more thresholds of the receivebuffers may be adjusted based on the information determined in step 404.Subsequent to step 406, the exemplary steps may advance to step 408.

In step 408, the femtocell may generate one or more correspondingpackets comprising the received multimedia content. In some embodimentsof the invention, the femtocell may insert the determined pathinformation and/or the determined timing characteristics. In otherembodiments of the invention, the determined path information may becommunicated separately from the corresponding packet(s). Subsequent tostep 408, the exemplary steps may advance to step 410.

In step 410, the generated corresponding packets may be stored in one ormore transmit buffers and transmitted from the buffer(s) onto a networklink. In this regard, capacity and/or one or more thresholds of thetransmit buffers may be managed based on determined characteristics of apath via which the corresponding packets are to be transmitted.

Aspects of a method and system for timely delivery of multimedia contentvia a femtocell are provided. In an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, a femtocell 206 may receive data via an upstream path 210 andtransmit data via a downstream path 212. One of the upstream path 210and downstream path 212 may comprise a cellular path and the other maycomprise a non-cellular path. One or both of the upstream path 210 andthe downstream path 212 may be audio video bridging (AVB) paths. Datamay be stored in the femtocell 206 based on timing characteristics ofone or both of the upstream path 210 and the downstream path 212.Exemplary timing characteristics may comprise variation in delay betweenadjacent packets of a packet stream, and latency. Data may be deliveredto the femtocell 206 utilizing best effort delivery and the data may beforwarded by the femtocell 206 with guaranteed quality of service. Thefemtocell 206 may be operable to transcode received data to generatedata for transmission. Portions of the cellular Tx/Rx 154, the processor158, the memory 160, and the DSP 162 (FIG. 1B), may be reserved forcommunication of one or more packet streams over the cellular path.Portions of the broadband Tx/Rx 156, the processor 158, the memory 160,and the DSP 162 (FIG. 1B), may be reserved for communication of one ormore packet streams over the non-cellular path. The resources may bereserved utilizing AVB protocols. The femtocell 206 may be synchronizedwith a cellular enabled communication device 208 and/or with anon-cellular device 202 utilizing AVB protocols. The femtocell 206 maybe operable to generate timestamps in accordance with AVB protocols.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine and/orcomputer readable storage and/or medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for timelydelivery of multimedia content via a femtocell.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for communications, the method comprising: receiving data ina femtocell via an upstream path; transmitting data by said femtocellvia a downstream path; and adjusting characteristics of one or morebuffers in said femtocell, wherein: one of said upstream path and saiddownstream path comprises a cellular path to a cellular enabledcommunication device; one of said upstream path and said downstream pathcomprises a noncellular path to a non-cellular device; and one or bothof said upstream path and said downstream paths are audio video bridging(AVB) paths established utilizing one or both of IEEE 802.1 AVBprotocols and extensions to said IEEE 802.1 AVB protocols.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, comprising adjusting said characteristics of saidone or more buffers in said femtocell based on timing characteristics ofone or both of said upstream path and said downstream path.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein said characteristics of said one ormore buffers comprise one or both of: a capacity of said one or morebuffers in said femtocell; and one or more thresholds of said one ormore buffers in said femtocell.
 4. A system for communications, themethod comprising: one or more circuits for use in a femtocell, said oneor more circuits being operable to: receive data via an upstream path;transmit data via a downstream path; and adjust characteristics of oneor more buffers in said femtocell, wherein: one of said upstream pathand said downstream path comprises a cellular path to a cellular enabledcommunication device; one of said upstream path and said downstream pathcomprises a non-cellular path to a non-cellular device; and one or bothof said upstream path and said downstream paths are audio video bridging(AVB) paths established utilizing one or both of IEEE 802.1 AVBprotocols and extensions to said IEEE 802.1 AVB protocols.
 5. The systemaccording to claim 4, wherein said one or more circuits are operable toadjust said characteristics of said one or more buffers in saidfemtocell based on timing characteristics of one or both of saidupstream path and said downstream path.
 6. The system according to claim4, wherein said characteristics of said one or more buffers comprise oneor both of: a capacity of said one or more buffers in said femtocell;and one or more thresholds of said one or more buffers in saidfemtocell.